the cold

winter is here and i welcome it like a good friend i haven't seen in a while. i know she'll be here for longer then i'd like, but in the meantime, "hello". it felt good to walk in it tonight. the cold and strong wind on my face, my fingers uncomfortably stiff but all a reminder that i am alive. that life is season. "as above so below" they say and it is also true that as without so within. we, each of us have our internal seasons. and every season has its purpose. for me, winter is a time of internal reflection. it is a time to be still and feel the warmth of the sun within us. internal illumination. it is the season of deep meditation. we should become aware of our thoughts. then, we should become careful with our thoughts because thoughts create intentions and intentions create reality. i don't mean the kind of thoughts we think when we are conscious like, "i wish for world peace" or "i wish i were rich". i mean the thoughts that we think all of the rest of the times. the thoughts you think when you are not thinking of thoughts. the thoughts that define the way you perceive your reality. the thoughts that define your experience. these are the thoughts to be careful with. to become conscious of and to shape for yourself in the light you want to be. it is not easy. it requires that you become still enough to listen. it can be such a learning experience when it happens. and can only happen via meditation. like sitting down in lotus pose for 10 minutes once or twice maybe three times a day to keep your mind still. a korean buddhist monk once told me in very broken english, "10 minute work, easy. 10 minute play, easy. 10 minute, do nothing, very hard!"

he was right.

but eventually everything becomes meditation. that is the way life was meant to be. every action should be contemplation of the self. sleeping. waking. eating. grooming. laughing. loving. hating. fighting. everything a means of experiencing the self through this world. and learning that everything is meaningful. even the suffering.

but what is meaningful when most of us believe meaning is what an episode of a sitcom ends with. meaning is not valuable because of our relationships to other people or society. but meaningful because of our relationship with our inner self, our souls. then there will be true meaning in everything else.

i wake and i contemplate my dreams. sometimes i write them if i can remember enough. then i contemplate my awakening. how peculiar it is to be asleep then awake. to be dreaming and then real. when i eat, it is to take care of my body. when i have fun i become conscious of how it feels and love how it connects me to this experience we call life. because it is only an experience and one day will end for each of us.

i believe that the purpose of life is to become as close to our original state as possible before our return to the infinite. that is what makes life most worth it. what is creation? what is nature? it is creativity. change. seasons. snow. rain....sun. this is our purpose. to experience all that is via our inspired creativity.

we should not live in fear of our potential. we should not live in fear of our reality. it will end. and god blesses those who live life their way.

peace.

- g